Even with the Eagles looming on Sunday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick ranged from the usual topics today to discuss something else. For the first time in a while, he provided an update on the progress of third-round QB Ryan Mallett, the third-stringer who has mostly been inactive for games.

Yes, this is the same Mallett we wrote a ton about in the offseason. So, how is he doing?

"I think at that position, so much of it is about playing," Belichick said. "But certainly from a mechanics standpoint, a physical standpoint, I think he's made a lot of improvements. I mean, as (Tom) Brady did. Brady's rookie year, he was 205, 207, whatever it was. He gained a lot of strength and built his upper and lower body. That's helped him develop his throwing, ability to take hits, durability, Ryan's definitely gotten on that program -- spends a lot of time in the weight room. And doing what we ask him to do. A lot of his job is working with the defense. He gets an opportunity to work with some of our other receivers after practice -- receivers, backs, tight ends."

But there is one positive about working with the scout team.

"One of the things about a backup quarterback is that he's always working against our defense," Belichick said, before dropping a funny line. "Whatever you think of our defense, but it's the best that we can put out there (Ha!) They're getting reps against our best players on defense. What they're doing relative to our scout defense, trying to simulate our opponents are doing. Those reps are good, too. As a quarterback, you make that competitive, you're trying to complete a pass, execute a play against a defense that sorta knows it's coming. They're sorta geared to stop it. That's a competitive situation, too. My first year with the Giants. One of my jobs was to run the scout team offense for the defensive coaches. And that was Phil Simms' first year, and he wasn't playing a lot. He was the scout team quarterback and I really gained a tremendous appreciation for Phil in that season of just how good he was, how accurate he was."

As for Mallett, it's that same opportunity. "Ryan's made some impressive throws in practice," he said.